salisbury



@eine gt attra t juteli. @fre- A. J. .siLIs'BUE-Y, 0E SAN' BUENA VENTURA, cALIE oEN1A,AssIcNoE rro e EIMsEL-E AND THOMAS E BARE; 0E SAME .PLAGE Letters Patent No."i'9,400, dated June 30, 1868.

' IMPEevED EEAMEE Een WELLS.

To' ALL vWEtoM- 1E MAY coNeEnN; i

Be it known 'that I, A.. J.SALIS.BURY, of San Buena Ventura, in the county of SantaiBarbara, and State of California, have invented a new and improved 'Expanding Beamer for Petroleum and otherArtesian Wells; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable those skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part ofithis specieaticn, in whichi Y Figure is a side view of the reamer contracted for descent through the tubing.

Figure 2v'is a. si'deview of the same when the same is expanded.

Figure 3 is a detail section ofthe toggle-joint through-the line z ze, fig-2.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

. This invention relates to a method of expanding branches of a well-rentner by a positive ldownward thrust ofthe superineumbent shafting,by which the reamer is actuated in the operation of roaming, and consists of a toggle-joint attached to and between the said branches a certain suitable distance from the points of the-latter, and operated by the directnvertical thrust ofthe shafting, 'to which the reamer is attached, acting upon a shank pivoted to the toggle-joint, together with other devices perfecting the whole, as will be hereinafter more fully set forth. i

In certain sections ofthe United States, as the Pacific const-,the formation inwhich petroleum is found is a soft friable shale, generally overlaid by beds or washesof sand, gravel, boulders, Sie., and alternating with bands of sandstone or strata of dint, or other; silicious formation, as indurated shale, and the like.

These conditions render it necessury,`in sinking an nrtesian well, to employ metallic tubing for the purpose of following .down the boring-tool at each successive point of its descent, for the purpose of preventing the sovcalled `-caving in of the walls of the wellnt those points where sand or friablc `formation is penetrated.

The employment of tubing. as above described, requires that the drill should be worked within the tubing, and therefore the-wellbored by it will .not permit the descent of the tubing. until the hole is roamed out by a second tool or reamer. Thisfreamer is required to be expandible, so that it shall enlarge the well, and so permit the tubing to descend.

' Such expanding reame-rs have been usedl heretofore, but their branches were expanded and so held by spring-tension only, which tension was notsuiiicient for the purpose 'when acting against any positive resistance, as rock.

' My improvement obvia'tes this disadvantage, and supplies a rigidresistance to the contraction ofthe branches of the reamenwhic'h enables it to ream out and enlarge thewell'to a diameter suitable for the ready descent of the tubing, as wiil now'b'e shown.

A A are the hran'flles of the reamer, which connect with each other, and form a whole by means of a. cross- 'bar, B, as shown.

Tinougha central hole in this cross-pieceworks a shank, C, which passes down between the branches A, and is connected with the to:;f, ;le-bars D atv their common joint, c, and by the same pin, a, which completes the joint. These toggle-bars are-pivoted te thcbranches A by stout pivot-pins, b, through the lugs el andthe tenonends ofthe toggle-bars, as shown.

Thus atogglefjointisvprovided which, by xneansjof the shank, will accomplish the expansion and contraction of thebranchesfas desired, andwhen expanded for the purpose of-reaming, the said toggle-joint will holdftheur rigidly, anilprevent their yielding when encountering rock or other resistance.

The shank is provided. with a'screw-head, Ff for attaching it to the hollow screwcon the stem or shafting, precisely as the drill-or'othor' tools are attached. A shoulder, G, prevents the shank from being tlirusttoo `forcibly upon the toggle-bars when thelatter have expanded the branches to their limit, as shown in iig. 2. A helical spring, S, is coiled around the' shank,and exerts its'tension against the shoulder H` and the cross-bar B,

asshown. The object of`this spring is not to preserve the rigidity ofthe extended branche/s, for that is eiectrually accomplished by the toggle-joint and shank, but is simply to lassist the expansive tension of the branches themselves, which a're of steel.

When the reamer vis to be employed in enlarging the holelmade by the drill in rock or other-hard medium, the branches A are held contracted' by a wire passing through holes' in the said branches, and brought down under the cutting-edges of the same, and locked or twisted. The position and arrangement of the wire are-shown in fig. 1. The reamer is ,then attached to the stem or shafting by means of the screw F, as aforesaid.

i The reamer is thus permitted to pass down through the tubing, and having arrived at the bottom, a blow or two. is sucient to `sever the wire and leave the branches free to expand, andthe Shank pressing upon the joint ofthe toggle-bars, expands the said branches and holds `them rigidly, for the togglebars being straightened, supply an unyielding cross-brace, which will not-permit the branches to yield when the operation of reaming is going on.

Other equivalent devices may be employed to maintain this'v desirable rigidity, such as acam, or Wedge, or eccentric-disk; or screw, but 'the principle will be the same, to wit, the expansion and rigid holding of the branches by means of the downward thrust of the shank C, orits equivalent, and I desire to be understood as having'known and contemplated such modifications, but present the arrangement set forth in the above as being the simplest, and one that has 4stood the test of many months experience in sinking wells through dflflcult alternations of sand and rock strata,.where the' expanding reamers as 'heretofore made failed utterly to accomplish the satisfactory progression of the work. p i

When the reamer is to be withdrawn, the sides of the expanded branches encountering the bottom edges of the tubing present a 'slight resistance, which enables the shank to ac'tuate the toggle-joint upward, and thus draw the branchesinward, so as to conformto the diameter of the tubing.A

This improved reamer -is simple, cheap, -eicient, and durable, and supplies'a Want long felt by those intercsted in the sinking of petroleum-wells. Y i

I claim asnew, and desire tosecure by Letters Patenti The combination of the branches A, cross-bar`B, toggle-bars D, shank C, and spring S, substantially as and for the purpose set forth. l

The above specification of my invention signed by me, this fourteenth day of October, 1867.

A.' J; SALISBURY.

Witnesses:

W. N. FITZGERALD, Jr., THOMAS FLENNIKEN. 

